CHAPTER 19
KANE
“What’s going on?” Addy asked me as we both stood at the doorway of Eli’s office at the Lyle building, watching Asher lead Harris, Nick, Aleks, and Kailan to the conference room across the reception.
It had been just over a week since Harris and his team were at the penthouse, bringing down Asher, Eli, and Addy’s world with what they had discovered so far about Joseph and his shady, sick dealings. I had known they were still in the city, working on chasing down any and every one they could, who was involved in those parties Joseph hosted, and who could now be a threat to Addy, but I had no idea they had arranged a meet. I dreaded to think what other news they had for us now.
“I don’t know. Stay with Jord and Eli and help them pack up. I’ll see what’s going on,” I told Addy as I placed a chaste kiss on her lips then left her at the doorway, so I could get into this meeting.
I knew Asher had been keeping a lot of what was going on, regarding the shit storm his father created, to himself, in an attempt to shield Addy and Eli from having to deal with any more of it, which is likely why he’d also kept this meeting to himself, but I needed to know what was going on, especially where Addy was concerned. If the guys and I were going to keep our girlfriend safe, we needed to know everything.
“Kane?” I turned at the sound of her voice and found Addy hovering just behind me, biting her lip, and looking nervous. I knew she was debating if she should come with me to hear what came next, but there was no way I was allowing that to happen. She was dealing with enough since that terrible nightmare two nights before. She was trying to find a way to live with the fact her own father had sexually assaulted her, while also sheltering her brothers from the fact. She was trying so fucking hard but Adam, Jord, and I knew how much she was struggling. Her panic attacks had been more frequent since that night, and she was barely sleeping. She looked exhausted and to say we were worried was not a strong enough statement. No way I was letting her take anymore on her shoulders.
“No, Angel. Do as I asked and go back to Jord and Eli, yeah? I’ll handle this,” I said firmly. She stared at me hard for a few moments, obviously debating internally if she should argue.
“Okay,” she finally conceded with a nod, and I let out a sigh of relief. I had no issue taking control when she needed me to, but I would never truly be able to put my foot down and stop her if she fought me. I loved her too much to do that and I knew it. I was just relieved she’d given in on this. Seeing her break again would break me too, and I knew it.
I watched her return to the office and close the door behind her, then I headed into the conference room.
“What’s going on?” I asked as I looked to where Harris and his team sat around the end of the large table with Asher.
“Kane? Where’s Addy?” Asher asked as he sat forward.
“With Jordan and Eli. I secured the floor. No one can get in right now,” I assured him. “Do you have something new?” I asked as I leant back against the edge of the table and looked to Harris.
“We’re done,” he announced. “Aleks has chased every lead and financial for every name we could tie to the parties, and to that warehouse. We managed to find twenty three names linked to the parties, and we’ve passed everything we have off to Asher’s contact at the FBI. There was enough evidence that they should all be arrested and charged.”
“And Addy? Anything to show who may be a threat to her?” I pushed.
“No. We didn’t find a single lead on the explosion at your place, or the arson at the other house, but it didn’t link back to anyone we got a name for.”
“To be honest, from everything I’ve seen, I truly think that explosion was just a distraction to get the cops away from the family home, so it could be torched. I’ve found no evidence to say Addy’s life is at jeopardy, and by the end of the day, most, if not all, of the names we found will be in custody anyway,” Aleks clarified.
“So you think Addy is safe?” Asher asked.
“We do. I don’t believe the fuckers we’ve chased down even knew she was alive, and linked to you or your father. I think they just wanted the evidence from your father’s home gone in case it incriminated them,” Harris said.
“So, what now?” I asked.
“The FBI are working the investigation on the traffickers and they have everything we found linking Joseph Lyle to the operation. They’ll likely bring the whole operation down with what we handed them. I’d advise you to just let them get on with it, and try to move forward. As far as we can see, and we’ve looked deep, you’re all safe. There’s nothing to indicate Addy has been tied to any of it,” Nick continued as he looked between Asher and me.
“We’d stay if I thought there was anything else we could do, Ash, but there’s nothing else to find. The FBI have enough to take down the rest of the scum involved, and though I’m sorry to say it, I think the head was cut from the snake of the whole thing, the day your father died,” Harris said ruefully.
“It’s over, man,” Kailan added. “Like Nick said, put it in the rear view, where it belongs, and move on.”
“Thank you all for doing this for me. Keeping my sister safe is all that matters to all of us,” Asher told them.
“No thanks needed. You know we’ll always have your back,” Harris said as he clamped a hand down on Asher’s shoulder.
“You sold the business already?” Kailan asked as he nodded to the boxes piled up in the corner of the room.
“Yes. I already had several offers on the table, ever since my father died. I simply took the highest bid. I don’t care what they do with it next. My only prerequisite was that the company name be changed. All that mattered to me was that the legacy of that monster is gone for good,” Asher explained, his rage leaking out with every word.
“What are you going to do now?” Aleks asked.
“Take care of my family. My father, even from his grave, tried once more to destroy the lives of his children. I’m going to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Asher swore. “Most of the staff are being kept on by the new owners, so their jobs are safe and I’m maintaining my security team. The only one out of a job is my personal assistant, but I’m sure she’ll find something else.” I scoffed at that. Anyone who took that crazy piece of work, Zara, on, would be a damned idiot. Sure she was okay to look at, and she seemed capable of her role, but she also loved to stir up trouble and make others feel small. She was not a good person and I found I didn’t give a damn what happened to her next.
“Well, it sounds like you have it all worked out,” Harris said as he clapped Asher on the shoulder. “Maybe when things calm down you could come out to see us for a break. Evie would love to see you and Eli, and meet Addy. Don’t be a stranger.”
We all said our goodbyes and Asher showed the guys out of the building while I settled in one of the chairs in the conference room and mulled over everything that had been said. It did make sense that the building at our place could have been blown as a distraction so the fire could be lit at the Lyle home, I supposed, but still, I couldn’t let the feeling that there had to be more to it go.
“What are you thinking?” Asher asked when he arrived back in the conference room a while later.
“I don’t know. I’m still worried for Addy,” I sighed.
“I’m not ready to drop the additional security on her either, not until we know for certain, but it does make sense. If that explosion were meant to get to Addy, surely they’d have blown part of the house and not just the separate building at the back of the property?”
“I guess. I just think we should keep our guards up. Something’s not adding up. If your father was the leader of the trafficking ring, how was he running it all from New York, and why run it out in Vegas? Surely he could have set it all up closer to home? And if he was running it, why would he target his own daughter? Yes the man was sick, but his own daughter? Something’s not making sense, Ash.”
“My FBI contact will keep me updated on what they discover, and, as I said, security stays tight on Addy and Eli, but for now I think we should try and put it behind us. Addy and Eli need the peace of believing it’s all over, and I need to see them feel at ease. Let’s just give them that and hope it’s the truth,” Asher sighed.
“Yeah, okay. I can do that,” I nodded, knowing it would set Addy at ease to know she was no longer a target. “But I think security needs to be a priority. Even if this threat is over, Addy is even more of a target than Eli for a ransom kidnap. She needs to realize that, and except security is part of her life moving forward,” I argued.
“I agree. Whatever she and Eli need to be safe, I’m happy with.”
I opened my mouth to discuss a new security system I wanted to install at the house, but stopped and shot to my feet at the sound of thunderous banging outside.
My heart sped up as thoughts of Addy getting hurt raced through my mind. Fuck, how long had it been since I felt panic like that? I had run into warzones with not even a fraction of the panic I felt in that moment that Addy’s life may be at risk.
“Addy? Eli?” Asher yelled, getting out of the conference room just ahead of me.
“Eli’s office!” I yelled as I ran out right behind him. “Go!”
Asher nodded and shot across the reception area to Eli’s office. I pulled the gun from my shoulder holster and started around the corner slowly and methodically, clearing the space around me as I moved toward the continuous banging.
As I got closer I realized the banging was against the glass of the entrance doors to the executive suite, which meant someone was trying to get in. They weren’t in yet. I moved faster at that realization, pissed by how slow my panic for Addy had made me think rationally. When I reached the doors I looked around the corner and cursed when I saw what awaited.
Zara was stood behind the doors, unable to enter because I had secured the floor. She was dressed in a dark purple dress, so tight I had no idea how she got into it. She had huge stiletto heals on and her usual mask of makeup, but she was looking a little wild and feral, as she held a large planter, that I knew was usually outside the elevators, and slammed it against the glass again and again, clearly hoping to break in. Little did she know that she stood no chance against the reinforced, bulletproof glass I’d had fitted.
“KANE!” She screamed as she threw down the huge planter angrily and scowled at me. I could see the plant that had been in the pot, and all of the earth from inside it, thrown all over the floor behind her. “Open this door, right now!” The glass muffled the sound but I saw her mouth move enough to figure out she’d said my name and was clearly irate at being locked out. I smirked, delighted to see the spiteful woman looking so irritated and unkempt, then turned and strode away from her, leaving her locked out.
“What’s going on?” Asher asked me from where he was stood outside the closed door of Eli’s office with a Glock in his hand, hanging at his side.
“Where’d you get that? I didn’t think you carried anymore?” I asked. He was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, since we’d all gone to the office building just to clear out his and Eli’s offices. With the gun in hand, and his face tense, waiting for a battle, he looked so much like the SEAL I’d known and worked with overseas. Gone was the suit and the mask of indifference he’d worn since he took his bullshit role at Lyle . Now he was in protector mode and he was the man I knew him to be again.
“I don’t, but I keep a piece in my office here, and several in the house, just in case,” he explained. “Everything good?”
“It is for me,” I smirked. “Not so much for you.”
“What? Why?”
“Zara’s trying to get in, and she is losing her shit,” I laughed.
“Fuck! She wasn’t supposed to return to the office. I already paid her a hugely generous severance package, and had all of her belonging sent to her home. What does she want?”
“What do you think?” I asked with a raise of my eyebrows. There was only one thing Zara had ever wanted since the day she met Asher, and she had been working every second of every day since to get her claws into him. Now, to know she had failed, it had to be the reason she was looking positively rabid at the doors.
“Fuck! Take this. I’ll handle it,” Asher cursed as he handed me the Glock and stormed past me.
“You sure you don’t need the gun?” I asked mockingly. He turned just enough to flip me off, then he was gone. I was only glad I didn’t have to deal with Zara’s wrath.
I was still laughing as I opened the door of Eli’s office. Eli and Addy were working together to wrap up the artwork from the walls while Jordan packed it into huge boxes.
“Everything okay?” Jordan asked the second I stepped in.
“All good. It’s just Zara here to throw a hissy fit in one last bid to get Asher’s attention,” I shrugged.
“What did Harris and the guys say?” Addy worried as she stood from where she’d been knelt on the floor and looked to me with hesitation.
“Nothing bad. They finished what they were working on. They handed everything they have to the feds, and they couldn’t find any threat against you,” I explained.
“So I’m safe? It’s over?” she asked hopefully.
“Yes. We think so,” I nodded. “But your security will remain. Even if this threat is gone, there will always be another because of the family wealth,” I added sternly.
“God, I don’t even care about that. I’m just so relieved we won’t have to hear anything else about Joseph and the monsters he was dealing with,” she sighed.
“And I will definitely second that,” Eli agreed.
“What about the fuckers Aleks was trying to get names for?” Jordan asked.
“They got twenty three names, all of which they gave to the FBI. Arrests should be made by the end of the day today.”
“That’s amazing. I hope they manage to free some of the prisoners those monsters kept,” Addy added.
“I’m sure they will, Angel.”
“Keep your hands off me!” An enraged voice wailed from outside the office, and when I turned to look out of the still open door, I saw Zara charging around the corner in her usual dramatic way. Asher was right behind her, making no attempt to touch her.
“Zara. You can’t be up here. You no longer work here,” Asher sighed, sounding exhausted, and I knew he was. He had been working so hard all week to keep things settled around the house for the sake of his siblings, while also dealing with the sale of Lyle and all of the buildings around the country. I was pretty sure he’d barely slept a wink in the process. I got it though. If my father had turned out to be the sick fuck Joesph was, instead of just a useless drunk, I’d want to get rid of everything that connected me to him, as fast as possible, too.
“You can’t just fire me, Asher! You have no grounds. I could sue you!” Zara almost screamed at him.
“I didn’t fire you. I simply don’t have a role for you anymore. The business doesn’t belong to me, and the new owner has his own personal assistant he wanted to work with. I paid you over a year’s salary in severance pay, and gave you several leads for other roles. What more did you want me to do?”
“You can’t treat me like this! You can’t lead me on for over a year, then just throw me aside!” Zara cried.
“Lead you on? I have never led you on. You were my employee and nothing more,” Asher defended himself. I turned to look at Addy and found her just behind me, watching the entire thing unfold. Eli and Jordan were close behind her watching on too.
“You liar!” Zara wailed, then she threw herself at Asher. Her fists made contact with his chest and she hit him a couple of times before Asher got hold of her wrists and tried to hold her back.
“Zara! Stop!” Asher snapped. I could see he was trying hard to restrain her without hurting her, but she was fighting like a hellion to get at him, rage consuming her. She truly was insane.
Just as I moved to go and help Asher out, Addy shot past me and threw herself between the two of them.
“Enough!” She snapped as she pulled Zara’s hands free from Asher’s grip then shoved her backwards so hard, Zara lost her footing in her ridiculous shoes, and fell to her ass on the floor. “Keep your hands off of Asher!” Addy warned, anger in her voice so clearly.
“You!” Zara spat as she stumbled to her feet and pointed at Addy accusingly. “You did this! This is what you wanted all along, wasn’t it? You money grabbing, little whore! Can’t you see what she’s done, Asher? All she wants is your money!”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Addy is my and Eli’s sister. She’s already entitled to a third of everything we have from our father. She hasn’t done anything,” Asher reminded her as Addy stood before him protectively. I would have stepped in if she didn’t look so fucking cute standing up for her brother as she was.
“He doesn’t want you Zara,” Addy said more calmly. “I’m sorry about that, but it’s the truth. It’s time to walk away and move on.”
“He wanted me until you arrived!” Again Zara was waving a finger at Addy as rage seethed from her. “You think you won, but you didn’t. Asher is mine!” She stepped right up in Addy’s face and Asher and I both stepped forward to intervene, but we didn’t need to. Addy grabbed Zara’s finger and twisted it until she had Zara’s arm behind her back. Zara squawked in discomfort as she bent over to try and relieve the pain in her arm.
“No one won, you psycho. This isn’t a game. I’m just his sister. I don’t know what’s going on in your head, but Asher’s not interested, and he’s certainly not yours, Zara. He never was, and he never will be. Leave him the fuck alone, and walk away with the shreds of dignity you have left,” Addy told her in a voice so calm it shocked the shit out of me.
Addy managed to move Zara further away from Asher and closer to the door, Zara having no choice but to follow or hurt her arm seriously. Once they were near the corner, Addy gave her a shove and Zara stumbled forwards but remained upright.
“You need me, Asher. You know you do!” Zara cried as she turned and tried to straighten herself up with the arm that wasn’t hurting.
“Leave now!” Addy barked as she pointed to the door.
“This isn’t over. I know who and what you are!” Zara hissed glaring right at Addy.
“Yeah, okay. Great villainous exit. I get it,” Addy dismissed her with a scoff. “Off you go now. Don’t let the door hit your perfect ass on the way out!”
We all walked around the corner to watch Zara storming from the office. When she tripped over the plant she’d thrown to the floor, we all sniggered, especially when Zara turned back to us all with a glare.
“That was fucking brilliant, princess,” Jordan laughed once Zara was in the lift and out of sight. I’d already text my guys working in the lobby to make sure she exited the building and was kept out.
“That’s the one self defense move I learned at the one and only class I attended. I can’t believe I actually got to use it,” she explained as she walked into Jordan’s arms and reached up on her tiptoes to kiss him. “I have to admit, I enjoyed it a whole lot,” she added with a bright smile.
“Thank you, sweetheart. I appreciate you stepping in before I had to restrain her any further,” Asher sighed, clearly relieved Zara was gone.
“That woman is a psycho, and she’s obsessed with you, Ash. You need to watch your back,” Eli pointed out.
“He’s right. Who knows what she could do now she has nothing to lose?” Addy agreed, as she looked from Ash to me with concern.
“I’ll make sure Asher has security at all times, Angel. He’ll be safe. Don’t worry,” I reassured her.
“I think I can protect myself from Zara,” Asher scoffed.
“Where’s Adam? How long can it take to grab a few pizzas? I’m starving,” Jordan grumbled, making us all laugh again. The man was always starving. I had no idea how he wasn’t the size of a house with what he put away.
Jordan and Addy headed back into Eli’s office to get back to work, as Eli approached his brother with an apprehensive look that had me waiting to hear what was worrying him.
“Ash, what are we doing about that?” Eli said as he nodded to the door that had been closed for months now. Behind it was the huge corner office Joseph Lyle had ruled his empire from. Asher had refused to move into it when his father passed, and as far as I knew, no one but the FBI had been in there since.
“The FBI took everything they could use as evidence. Legal went through it too and removed any relevant documents. I’ve told the new owner he can do as he wishes with the remaining contents. We’re not even stepping foot in there, Eli,” Asher assured his brother. “Joseph Lyle is dead, his empire is gone, and the case against him is out of my hands now. We can move on and leave him cold in the ground where he belongs.”
“Okay,” Eli nodded, a slight wobble to that one single word. “That’s good.”
Asher wrapped his hand around the back of Eli’s neck and pulled him close until their foreheads touched.
“We have a fresh start now, brother. We’re going to live the lives we want, and not the ones we were dictated.”
I turned and walked away, not wanting to intrude on the moment the brothers seemed to be having – a moment they desperately needed after everything they’d been through. I just hoped Asher was right and they could finally find some peace and happiness in their lives.